Knot tying device



1967 J- H. REMMERS 3,336,063

A KNOT TYING DEVICE Filed Sept. 20, 1965 INVENTOR. JOHANNES H. REMMERSATTORNEY United States Patent 3,336,063 KNOT TYING DEVICE Johannes H.Remmers, Velp, Gelderland, Netherlands,

assignor to American Enka Corporation, Enka, N.C.,

a corporation of Delaware Filed Sept. 20, 1965, Ser. No. 488,614 Claimspriority, application Netherlands, Oct. 7, 1964, 6411,624 Claims. (Cl.289-2) ABSTRACT or THE DISCLOSURE Knot tying apparatus comprising asectional blockshaped body through which one or more separate channelsrun along paths corresponding to the separate paths of the yarn endswithin the knot to be formed, said body formed by a plurality ofsections having mutually abutting surfaces, with each abutting surfacehaving at least a single groove therein being directly opposite to agroove in another of said abutting surface whereby all directly opposedgrooves form a channel through which passes the yarn ends to be tied.Means are also provided for separating the various opposing grooves andfor automatically pulling thread ends through channels formed by thegrooves.

The present invention relates generally to a device for tying yarn endstogether. More particularly the invention embodies a simple knot tyingdevice having a minimum of uniquely joined and easily disengagablemovable parts and into which yarn ends may be automatically inserted.

The need for a device of the type to be described is particularly greatin conjunction with apparatuses used for automatically measuring variousproperties of large numbers of yarn samples. In order that the qualityof threads and yarns manufactured on an industrial scale may bemonitored, it has been found necessary to subject these samples to agreat many tests for determining the strength, elongation, etc., of thesamples. When thread samples are selected individually from a largequantity of unconnected samples and mounted separately in varioustesting devices, the testing process becomes very time consuming.

p A considerable reduction in the cost of testing the quality of threadsand yarns can be obtained by joining the ends of all the thread samplesso that an endless thread is formed which may be subjected to continuousmeasurements. In this manner the operator of a testing device is notrequired to make a selection from said quantity of samples for each testoperation.

' In the past it has been extremely difiicult to join thread endstogether automatically and in a simple manner. Various types of yarntying devices requiring hand threading of the yarn samples to be tiedare well known. However, hand threading is a time consuming operation,especially where large numbers of yarn samples are to be tied together.Other prior art knot tying mechanisms which do not require handthreading of the samples have been constructed using adjoining sectionswhich do not easily lend themselves to disassembly once a knot isformed.

The present invention has been designed to overcome these and otherdisadvantages of prior art knot tying mechanisms and comprises a blockshaped body through which one or more separate channels run along pathscorresponding to the separate paths of the yarn ends within the knot tobe formed. Said block shaped body is formed by a plurality of sectionshaving mutually abutting surfaces, with each abutting surface having atleast a single groove therein being directly opposite to a groove inanother of said abutting surfaces whereby the totality of the directlyopposed grooves forms a channel through which passes the yarn ends to betied. Means are provided for easily separating the various opposinggrooves forming the channel running through the block shaped body andfurther means are provided for automatically pulling the thread endsthrough the channel or channels.

It is an object of the invention to provide a new and improved devicefor tying yarn ends together.

It is another object of the invention to provide a device of the typedescribed having a minimum of easily separable moving parts and operableto quickly and simply tie ends of yarn together.

These and other objects of the invention will become more fully apparentin the following detailed description of the accompanying drawingswherein:

FIGURE 1 is a perspective view of the configuration of a single overhandknot which may be tied using the device of the present invention;

FIGURE 2 shows the device of the present invention in a closed position;

FIGURE 3 shows the same device in an open position; and

FIGURE 4 illustrates the yarn paths of the device shown in FIGURES 2 and3.

Referring now to FIGURE 1, there is shown a single overhand knot in astrand of yarn 1 having points of deflection A, B, C and D thereon lyingon a straight line. This line is the line of intersection of two planes,one of which is defined by the loop B, D, A and the other of which isdefined by the loop A, C and intersects the B-D-A plane at an angle ofabout 60. The in-going yarn end is substantially perpendicular to theB-D-A plane whereas the outgoing yarn end makes an angle'of about 60with both planes at point B on the line of intersection of said planes.

For purposes of illustration only, a single strand of yarn 1 is shown inFIGURE 1. When two strands are to be tied together, they are positionedside by side and follow the ABCD path in FIGURE 1 during the knot tyingoperation.

In FIGURE 2 there is illustrated the block shaped body with hingedsections 2, 3 and 4 in their closed positions. Sections 2, 3, and 4 areswingably interconnected as shown in FIGURE 3 by means of the hinges 5and 6.

Section 2 of the block shaped body has a funnel shaped channel 7 whichnarrows toward the boundary surface 17 as shown in FIGURE 3 and opensinto the continuous channel formed by the grooves within the various sections 2, 3 and 4 at point C in FIGURE 1. Next to the exit of channel 7and also on the line of intersection of the two planes A-C and A-D-B,there is positioned the entrance of an outlet channel 10. The outletchannel 10 runs straight through section 4 and connects with an outletconduit 8. Transverse to the outlet conduit 8 there is connected acompressed air line 9 for creating a vacuum in the outlet channel 10necessary to pull the yarn from the entrance channel 7, through theoverhand knot channel contour within the block shaped body, and out ofthe conduit 8.

Facing the exit of the inlet channel 7 are the upper ends of grooves 13and 14 in sections 3 and 4, respectively, shown in FIGURE 3. Thesegrooves directly oppose each other when the block shaped body is in aclosed position to form the initial portion of the channel in plane A-C.The path of the yarn travel from A to D begins at the continuation ofgroove 14 cut out of surface 18 of section 4 and this continuation ofthe groove 14 meets fiush with and directly opposes the lefthandsemicircular section of the groove 11 in surface 17 of block 2 when thebody is in a closed position.

The remainder of the curving path of the yarn travel from D to B isdefined by the right hand smaller semicircular groove 11 in surface 17of block 2 and the groove 12 on the surface 16 of section 3. These twogrooves are positioned flush with and directly opposite each other whenthe body is in a closed position. The innermost limit of groove 11 asviewed in FIGURE 3 is positioned flush with and directly opposite to theentrance of exit channel when the body is in a closed position, saidentrance being represented by point B in FIGURE 1.

FIGURE 4 schematically shows the path of the thread travel from theopening of the entrance channel 7 through the exit channel 10.

When two yarn samples are to be tied together, their ends are positionedside by side and held in front of the entrance of the channel 7. Whencompressed air is admitted through line 9 the two adjacent yarn endswill be sucked into the mouth of the channel 7 and transported viagrooves 11 through 14 to the exit channel 10 and on to the outletconduit 8. By pulling in opposite directions on the ends of yarnextending from without the entrance channel 7 and exit conduit 8, theknot in said ends can be tightened, and the friction between the yarnand the sections 2, 3, and 4 will cause the sections 2, 3 and 4 to moveapart. This movement is caused by the yarn enterin-g between thesurfaces of sections 2, 3 and 4 where grooves 11, 12, 13 and 14 meet andthis entry forces sections 2, 3 and 4 apart. When the sections 2 and 3move away from the section 4, the thread loop is tightened further andthe knot is completed. A locking means (not shown) may be used toprevent the sections 2 and 3 from swinging out too far. This may also beused to enable the sections 2 and 3 to fall by their own weight backinto the closed starting position when the knotted yarn is entirelywithdrawn from the block shaped body.

Although the illustrative embodiment of the invention describes only adevice for tying a single overhand knot, a device could be constructedaccording to the principles of the present invention which is capable oftying widely varying knots. If desired, the block-shaped body could beconstructed using more than the three sections shown and said sectionscould be joined together other than by means of the hinge constructionillustrated in the FIG- URES 2 and 3.

Depending on the denier of the yarns to be joined, the vacuum system ofthe present invention may be modified to create a higher or lower vacuumfor pulling the yarns through the channel in the block-shaped body.

Many further modifications may be made to the present invention withoutdeparting from the spirit and scope thereof. Therefore, it should beunderstood that the invention is limited by way of the followingappended claims.

What is claimed is:

1. A device for tying yarn ends together comprising (a) a body having afirst opening into which ends of yarn may be inserted,

(b) a second opening out of which said yarn ends may be pulled afterbeing tied,

(c) a continuous channel extending between said openings and having thesame general contour of a knot to be tied,

((1) said body being formed by a plurality of sections having mutuallyabutting surfaces with at least a single groove in each of said surfacesbeing directly opposite to a groove in another of said surfaces with thetotality of the directly opposed grooves forming said continuouschannel.

2. The device of claim 1 wherein (a) the plurality of mutually abuttingsurfaces lies on a pair of intersecting planes,

(b) said body having a yarn entrance path extending from said firstopening to the intersection of said planes, and

(c) an exit path extending between said second opening and theintersection of said planes.

3. The device of claim 1 wherein (a) said body is formed by a firstsection having a spiral-like groove therein, and

(b) second and third sections joined to opposite sides of said firstsection and having grooves therein which directly oppose each other andthe spiral-like groove in said first section when said second and thirdsections are moved into contact with said first section.

4. The device of claim 1 which further includes means for pulling yarnends through said continuous channel.

5. The device of claim 4 wherein said pulling means is a vacuum systemconnected to said second opening.

6. The device of claim 1 wherein said continuous channel follows acircular path in one of said intersecting planes which is connected to aspiral-like path in the other of said planes.

7. The device of claim 2 wherein (a) said body is formed by a firstsection having a spiral-like groove therein, and

(b) second and third sections joined respectively to opposite sides ofsaid first section and having grooves therein which directly oppose eachother and said spiral-like groove in said first section when said secondand third sections are moved into contact with said first section.

8. The device of claim 7 which further includes means for pulling yarnends through said continuous channel.

9. The device of claim 8 wherein said continuous channel follows a firstcircular path in one of said intersecting planes which continues into aspiral-like path in the other of said planes.

10. The device of claim 7 wherein (a) each of said second and thirdsections have first and second surfaces thereon lying respectively insaid pair of intersecting planes when said second and third sections arein intimate contact with each other and with said first section, and

(b) said first and second surfaces in both the second and third sectionshaving a groove therein with one groove in each of the second and thirdsections being directly opposite to a portion of said spiral-like groovein said first section when said first, second and third sections are inintimate contact with each other and the other grooves in each of thesecond and third sections respectively being directly opposite to eachother, said opposing grooves in said first, second and third sectionsforming said continuous channel having a first portion cut from surfaceslying in one of said pair of intersecting planes and a second portioncut from surfaces lying in the other of said pair of intersectingplanes.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,705,656 4/1955 Shockry 289-15 X2,860,902 11/1958 Diels 289-2 2,913,270 11/ 1959 Sachsenroder 289-2MERVIN STEIN, Primary Examiner.

L. K, RIMRODT, Assistant Examiner.

1. A DEVICE FOR TYING YARN ENDS TOGETHER COMPRISING (A) A BODY HAVING AFIRST OPENING INTO WHICH ENDS OF YARN MAY BY INSERTED, (B) A SECONDOPENING OUT OF WHICH SAID YARN ENDS MAY BE PULLED AFTER BEING TIED, (C)A CONTINUOUS CHANNEL EXTENDING BETWEEN SAID OPENINGS AND HAVING THE SAMEGENERAL CONTOUR OF A KNOT TO BE TIED, (D) SAID BODY BEING FORMED BY APLURALITY OF SECTIONS HAVING MUTUALLY ABUTTING SURFACES WITH AT LEAST ASINGLE GROOVE IN EACH OF SAID SURFACES BEING DIRECTLY OPPOSITE TO AGROOVE IN ANOTHER OF SAID SURFACES WITH THE TOTALITY OF THE DIRECTLYOPPOSED GROOVES FORMAING SAID CONTINUOUS CHANNEL.